This weeks grab bag of support questions.

I would like early access to PaperCut’s upcoming features, do you guys offer a beta program?

Sure, if you have a test setup and the time it would be great to get some feedback. More details here.

I see two PaperCut services running in the services MMC, what’s the difference between the application server and print provider?

The “PaperCut Application Server” is the big brains behind PaperCut it does everything from making all of the decisions, storing logs, looking after account balances and generating reports.
The “PaperCut Print Provider” interfaces into the printing environment, CUPS, iPrint and Spools.exe.  This does all the leg work with the print queues and handles all the pausing, resuming, redirecting and deleting for print jobs.

Unrelated to PaperCut we had an organization with severe workstation issues, the issues were hard to track down and caused all the applications to crash. They wanted to use PaperCut to log any attempts of printing where the client was not running. This would then help them (hopefully) see a pattern.

Using a script we were able to log when a print was sent while the client software was not running.

function printJobHook(inputs, actions) {
  if (!inputs.client.isRunning) {
    actions.job.cancel();
    actions.log.warning(“Job name ” +
                        inputs.job.documentName +
                        ” printed by ” +
                        inputs.job.username +
                        ” to ” +
                        inputs.printer.printerName +
                        ” was cancelled as client was not running on ” +
                        inputs.job.clientMachine);
  }
}

Does PaperCut work with RM CC3/CC4?

We get this at least once a week, the answer is always….”We have various sites running PaperCut and CC4 without any issues”. We only know a few sites running CC4, we normally have no idea what is on an organizations network but so far nothing related to CC4 has caused us any problems. *crosses fingers*

Is it possible to upgrade PaperCut Server without updating secondary servers?

Yes the primary and secondary versions can be different as long as the primary is newer.

Want to add a custom logo on Toshiba embedded?

A ”header-logo.png” must be stored in the path of [app-path]\server\custom\web\device\toshiba\.
By default the \device\toshiba\ folder does not exist and has to be created. If you wish to return back to the “default” view then delete the directories you just made.

Just a quick note that a bug fix for 11.5 has been issued to fix 1-2 of the bugs PaperCut like to throw in to make sure you are paying attention. You will also find a few embedded changes included.

Release notes below.

3 November 2011 – PaperCut MF 11.5 (Build 15370)

This is a bugfix release for version 11.5 and contains the following changes:

Each week we get a few “can PaperCut ….” emails each week, most are simple to answer but some are a little quirky or do not crop up often. Below you will find the pick of the week!

I would like to use SNMP hardware checks but have changed my community string. Can I change the community string PaperCut uses?

Have a look in the print-provider.conf file and uncomment (remove the leading #) for the line of SNMPCommunity and change “public” to your desired string:

#
# Change the SNMP community string that is used at the Print Provider layer when communicating
# to printers via SNMP.
# For example, this setting will be used by Hardware Check Validation to retrieve SNMP printer state data.
# Default: public
#
#SNMPCommunity=public

How well does Doc-Q-Ticket work with PaperCut?

Never used DQT but a reseller of ours said this: “We have gone live with the integration at one customer and it works really well.”

I can’t get web print to work, using Adobe X (10).

You will need to turn off the new enhanced security features for continued operation. This can be done via Edit -> Preferences -> General -> un-check "Enable Protected Mode at Startup". Please note that this is a per-user setting. This change will need to be done as the Web-Print user regardless of Web-Print being configured in simple mode or sandbox mode.

Can I use hyperlinks in my scrip popups?

As of  11.4.14716) you can! Just use regular HTML (“a href”) link syntax

Is it easy to move from NG to MF?

Last of all a link to a YouTube video I created during lunch to show someone how to move between PaperCut NG and MF.

We get a few “can PaperCut….” emails each week, most are simple to answer but some are a little quirky. Below you will find the pick of the week!

I want to give unlimited Black&White print/copy job(but still deducted from the account for reporting) and limit the colour jobs with a quota.

This is fairly easy to do using the advanced charging tab on the printer configuration, and setting the grey scale discount to 100%. That makes every black and white job discount the entire cost of the job, and does not deduct from the users quota. Colour jobs will still be charged at the full price, as it is configured in the printer configuration.

Colour copies versus black and white copies should work the same way, although it may not show before the copy job is completed, depending on the copier manufacturer. Because PaperCut doesn’t have complete information until the entire copy job is completed the cost may not be appropriately updated until the job is completed and processed.

How well does PaperCut work on Novell?

Good question, I think this video says it all. I wonder if the guy who won the server was upset about having to take it on a plane home

I am running PaperCut MF on a Sharp MFD, if I do not have any pending print jobs can I skip straight to the copy function?

11.6 should allow the print release screen to be skipped if the user has no jobs pending. This will not be on by default.

I want SSO (Single Sign On) between my embedded apps – Can you help?

Yeah SSO would be nice, often used with scanning applications like Drivve, Scan2Oneself and GlobalScan. Currently SSO works fine on the Sharp OSA platform but other platforms are a little trickier. If you need SSO let us know.

Does PaperCut work with ***Insert Name of Online Payment Provider***?

The full list of supported payment gateways is available on the PaperCut website here.
If the service you use is not listed then there are options to integrate using the PaperCut web services API if the provider is interested, further details are available here. The last few weeks we have had a lot of emails about ParentPay, we suggest you discuss this with ParentPay, PaperCut have provided all the tools a payment provider needs.

Does PaperCut run on NetWare?

Nope sorry – NetWare is old! Organizations that are currently running NetWare are however able to easily deploy PaperCut. We suggest setting up a separate OES Linux server (or VM) and use this to host the print queues and PaperCut. That way the impact is minimal as your file and directory services can remain on your existing server, and it’s just the print queues that move across to the new OES Linux system.

I have Riso Machines can PaperCut track “copy jobs” ?

Riso have been working hard to get a Copicode IP working with their hardware. This solution should be ready to roll out by the end of the year.

I am having copy count issues with my Lexmark X792 and X954 running PaperCut embedded.

Duplex and large copy jobs do not seem to work as intended- Lexmark have released new firmware to fix this. Contact Lexmark for a fix.

Another load of questions from this week’s emails.

What is the difference between Xerox JBA and Xerox Secure Access?

It’s easier to say what XSA can do over JBA:

• The Ability to use network card readers (fast release)  for authentication at the device
• Improved user login workflow and messages

As time goes on Xerox will (hopefully) improve the SDK so we can make it as feature rich as our other solutions.

What languages are available on the Xerox Secure Access solution?

At this time it is only available in English, the XSA solution has some issues with character sets (even the Euro can upset it). Hopefully Xerox will make changes to the SDK (please!)

I have a HP machine running OXPd can I install PaperCut?

Nope sorry. OXPd just isn’t up to the task, OXPd is a lightweight framework for very basic data collection. It doesn’t offer the feature set PaperCut need to do authentication, access control, copy tracking, etc, etc.

I have a HP machine running the new embedded platform called “Jedi”, when will PaperCut have an embedded solution?

It takes time to develop, test and release an embedded app. Expect a HP Jedi application in early 2012.

I want to run Doc Q Manager from ATI and PaperCut together – Any tips?

The DQM integration was all done by ATI so they are the best people to ask. Our only advice is never ever install DQM and PaperCut on the same machine they both use the spool file and it will only upset both systems.

If I delete a user in AD and tell PaperCut to remove deleted users from PaperCut what happens to that users history?

Don’t worry, that users print history is still lurking around for reporting etc. The information is left for historical reasons, but you can’t change settings for that user from the Users tab. It doesn’t count against the license, and will not even show in a report if the time period is after the time that they were deleted. You can go and find the user again by looking through shared account job logs or printer job logs and then clicking the users name.

I have a Canon machine, can I have PaperCut embedded installed?

We’d love to be able to develop for the Canon platform, we get a fair few emails/calls about it each week but unfortunately Canon will not grant PaperCut permission develop a MEAP solution. We hope in time they will be allowed to create an app as currently people with Canon machines and PaperCut are missing out. We strongly encourage any Canon customers or resellers to request permission on PaperCut’s behalf.

I installed a Copicode IP and need to change the RS232 reader to output in Decimal.

Go to the devices tab in PaperCut, select the Copicode and choose the config editor option. Look for the “ext-device.vendor.reader-type” and change this value to 5.

Another week in support had almost been and gone, here is this week’s dose of handy information that may not be obvious.

I have renamed my users in the directory (e.g. in Active Directory). How do I also rename my accounts in PaperCut?

People get married and cause admins extra work: http://www.papercut.com/kb/Main/RenameUserAccounts Or just stop people getting married.

Need to mass deploy the secondary print server to local monitor local printers.

Check this link out: http://www.papercut.com/products/ng/manual/ch-secondary-print-windows-silent-install.html

Need to mass uninstall the secondary print server?

You can run the unins000.exe file located in [app-path]\, normally C:\Program Files\PaperCut MF\
This also takes the /verysilent switch. More info here: http://www.papercut.com/kb/Main/AutomatingRemoval

Want to add another decimal place in PaperCut ?

• From the administration interface, navigate to Options -> General -> Display Options.
• Check Change number of decimal places
• Enter a new number in the decimal places box
• Press Apply.

Using PaperCut advanced scripting to move print jobs between print servers?

Read this: http://www.papercut.com/products/ng/manual/ch-find-me-printing-and-load-balancing-configuration.html#jr-advanced-config-inter-server

Want to use internal groups in PaperCut?

Then read this: http://www.papercut.com/kb/Main/InternalGroups

We get a few “can PaperCut….” emails a week, most are simple to answer but some are a little quirky.

Here are this week’s odd ones.

Deleted the print history and reset all the print counters, but the dashboard still shows the total number of prints. How can you reset it?

It is possible to reset that value by going to the Options tab of the admin console, then clicking Config Editor on the right, if you search on the word total, 2 entries will show up, you need to edit the print.stats.total.pages to say 0 for it to reset the dashboard counter. Please be careful using the config editor and back up your installation before changing values there.

Want to use a different SMTP settings for PaperCut such as TLS or a different port?

If your email server requires SMTP authentication, the username and password can be configured by setting the notify.smtp.username and notify.smtp.password settings in the advanced configuration editor. If your email server supports encrypted SMTP using TLS (e.g Gmail), you can enable this by changing the setting notify.smtp.enable-tls to Y.  Most SMTP servers will allow encrypted communication using the default port 25. If the SMTP server uses an alternate port for TLS encryption the port can be configured with the notify.smtp.port setting.

Need to change settings on a RFIDeas reader?

Use this http://www.rfideas.com/Software/pcProxConfig.exe

Do you want to hide document names on windows printer queues?

• Open the print-provider.conf located in [app-path]\providers\print\win\
• Locate HideDocumentNames=off and change to HideDocumentNames=on
• Optionally locate HideDocumentNamesText=[hidden] and change [hidden] to a value of your choice
• Save the changes to the print-provider.conf
• Restart the PaperCut Print Provider Service

Note: If you are running any Secondary Print Servers then the print-provider.conf file will need to be changed on each Secondary Print Server.

Due to the connected world we live in I ran up a quick video for a customer. It is basic but to the point.

Ever wondered how often the toner levels update?

Well wonder no longer http://www.papercut.com/kb/Main/TonerUpdateFrequency

We are pleased to announce that there are several changes being implemented to improve our online technical support. Our new Dedicated Support Portal provides Manuals, FAQ’s, Trouble Shooting help as well as a Support Ticket option using an Instant Response System (IRS).
Dedicated Support Portal